Jaffna High Court Judge M. Illanchelian has issued an order prohibiting animal sacrifices at temples in Jaffna.
In that Order, the Judge has directed the Deputy Inspector General of Police for Jaffna to prevent animal sacrifices at Hindu temples and to arrest anyone found involved in the animal sacrifice ritual at Hindu temples.
The All Island Saiva Maha Saba had filed a case in the Jaffna High Court seeking an order prohibiting animal sacrifices at Hindu temples.
The Saiva Maha Saba had pointed out that the local bodies grant permission for animal sacrifices at Hindu temples but the Public Health Officials are also ignorant about the practice.
Jaffna High Court Judge Illanchelian, issuing the Order, strictly prohibited the sacrifice of animals at Hindu temples, stating that it was a crime against the animals as well as the Hindu religious values.
Prohibiting any form of animal sacrifice at Hindu temples, the Jaffna High Court Judge directed the Deputy Inspector General of Police for Jaffna to implement the Order effectively in the Police Divisions under his purview in the North.
Meanwhile, several Hindu institutions also earlier took the initiatives to prohibit animal sacrifices at the Hindu temples.
The incumbent Northern Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran, when he was District Judge of Mallakam, had also ordered that animal sacrifices at Hindu temples be stopped.
However, this is the first time that the Jaffna High Court has issued an Order totally prohibiting animal sacrifices at the Hindu temples.
